The Responsible Sourcing Tool is a new website created to help federal contractors and other companies, procurement officials, advocates, and consumers understand the risks of human trafficking in supply chains and the mechanisms to implement effective management systems to detect, prevent, and combat trafficking. The content was developed by Verité with the support and collaboration of the U.S. Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons in conjunction with other State Department and U.S. Government agency experts.

The 2014-2015 Progress Report on Philip Morris International’s Agricultural Labor Practices (ALP) program, released this spring, demonstrates an approach to scaled reduction of child labor that is notable for its breadth, depth and thoughtfulness. Any effort to address child labor in a supply chain as massive as PMI’s requires recognition that progress is possible, but it will take a long time, substantial resources and continued commitment.

Important changes take time – in this case a loophole in the US Tariff Act of 1930 has just been closed, with important implications for the protection of workers in severely exploitative working conditions.

What commodities present the highest risk for human trafficking and forced labor? Verité’s newly released report outlines risks of forced labor faced by workers in 43 of the world’s most important primary commodities. We conducted this research as part of our program to prevent human trafficking in federal and corporate supply chains, sponsored by the US Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.